Corrective pad for shoes



March 12, 1940. E. H. VAUGHN CORRECTIVE PAD FOR SHOES Filed March 10, 1938 Patented Mar. "12, 1940 CORRECTIVE FADFOR SHOES :Evcrett H. Vaughn, St. Louis, Mo- Application March 10, 1938, Serial No. 195,061

This invention relates to improvements in corrective pads and their placement'in a shoe so as to strengthen the muscles of the foot, and more N particularly to pads which are built into the outer 5 sole. of the shoe. I

The present invention is designed primarily to provide a pad which will be positioned beneath the foot to act as an additional fulcrum for the flexor'muscles of the foot but which will not sup- 1110 port the skeletal arrangement of the foot to the extent that there is no work for these muscles to perform inthe act of Walking.

My corrective pad is positioned and shaped to provide an uplifting of the fourth and fifth 3 metatarsal heads which within themselves constitute fulcrums to the tendons of the fiexor muscles. These muscles have their action onithe joints of which the fourth. and fifth metatarsal heads are the proximal half and the phalanges n20 or toe bone heads are the distal portion. Of course it isunderstood that the fiexor muscles produce in these phalanges the gripping or pre- 'hensile' action of the foot in walking. I provide .for the uplifting of both the fourth and fifth 12 metatarsal heads as the combination of thesetwo with-the cuboid bone and 13118105 calcis or heel bone form the outer longitudinal arch and without supporting both the fourth and fifth heads a distortion and final destroying would result in the in- 4 herent arrangement of this arch.

By the. correct shape and proper placing of my.

("35 flexor muscles must perform in the act of walk-' ing. I have found that the proper place for a corrective pad is not withinthe shoe or between the insole and outer sole but as close to the base or bearing of the shoe as possible. In my inven- 40 tion I place the corrective pad in the body of the sole. My pad may be applied in the original building of the shoeor applied thereto by a shoe repair man but in either case it forms an integral part of the soleand'atthe same time is 45 protected from wear. 3 1

I am aware that various wedges or additional pieces of material have been built into'a shoesole in attempts to afford a corrective; foot posture, but I have so shaped and built up certain 50 portions of my improvedcorrective pad as to not only remedy any consequent ill posture of the foot,,but also to supplement the structure of the bones of the foot soas to lessen the exertion of the muscles used for walking and allow them to 55 rebuild and strengthen themselves.

4 Claims. (or 36-71) Another object of my invention is to elevate the outer ball of the foot, that is, the fourth and fifth metatarsal heads to correct the tendency toward unbalancing of the foot. In accomplish ing this object of the invention,.I have'found that 5 to place the corrective pad-in the sole properof the shoe will lift the entire outside longitudinal arch of, the foot without disturbing any. distinct arrangement of the bones in the outside longi tudinal' arch.

My corrective pad may be made of any material which has' flexibility and wearing qualities suitable to its location in the soleof a shoe and I do notwish to be limited to any specific mate rialin this application. I I

With these objects in view my invention comprises the various features of construction hereinafter-more fully described and defined'in the claims. 1

In the accompanying drawing wherein similar reference characters denote similar parts I have shown a single embodiment of my invention. The various features of the invention are illustrated in the drawing of which Fig, I'isa view looking at the outside of a left "shoe with my improved corrective pad in place within the sole proper of the shoe, Fig. 2 is a horizontal cross section of the shoe of 1 taken justabove the plane of the insole, part of which is broken away to show my corrective pad more clearly, Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of my improved corrective pad removed from the shoe: 7

' Referring now more particularly to the dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2 whichrepresent the skeletalarrangement of the bones in the-leftfootyl, 2, 3, i and 5 denote the first, second, third, fourth and fifth metatarsal bones, the heads of which are jointed to the correspondingphalanges 6 at their distal ends and to the four cuboid'and cuneiform 40 v bones! at their proximal ends.

turn forming a jointure with the calcis bone 8.

The bones 1 in This combination of bones, namely, the phalanges ii, the .metatarsal ii, the cuboid and cuneiforms l and calcis 8 form the outer longitudinal arch which is articulated and moved by the flexor Y muscles while walking. I

If this arch is spread, that is, if a line drawn from the calcis bone 8 to the phalange 6 is length- I I When this arch is allowed to tend to drop the interior transverse arch, which extends transversely across the ball of the foot at substantially the distal or head ends of the five metatarsal bones designated i, 2, 3, 4 and in the drawing, will tend to drop or incline to the outside throwing the foot off balance when the foot is standing on a plane surface. It is one of the features of my invention to correct this unbalanced condition and to this end I provide a corrective pad the outer side Id of which is relatively thick and of a conformation to fit the outer edge of a shoe sole 1 i at a point adjacent to the fourth and fifth metatarsal head From this outer edge if], the corrective pad 9 gradually decreases in thickness to its inner arcuate edge l2 which is relatively thin. The two edges H) and I2 tapering to a point at their forward end, while at the rear they are joined by a straight rear portion l3 which is skived off to a thin edge.

The shape of the corrective pad 9 in plan view resembles a spear head while its outer edge view in l and 4 shows a gradual tapering from its middle portion to both front and back portions.

I locate the aforementioned pad 9 directly beneath the fourth and fifth metatarsal heads, the thicker outer edge portion Ill being under the fifth metatarsal head and continuing under the fourth metatasal to the relatively thin inner arcuate edge 2. This efiects an elevation of the outer ball of the foot and corrects the tendency towards unbalancing of the foot. The corrective pad t is built into the sole H of the shoe so that it will be as near as possible to the base of the shoe and still be protected from wear by the outer layers of the sole leather. By this location of my corrective pad I do not restrict or cramp the natural movements of the foot bones or foot muscles in an already correctly fitting pair of shoes. This is frequently the case with pads or supports that are worn inside the confines of the uppers of the shoes.

With the foot now correctly balanced I provide a slight additional uplifting of the jointure between the fourth and fifth metatarsal bones 4 and 5 and their respective 'phalanges ii. I accomplish this by a building up of the middle outer portions of my corrective pad 9 into a semi-circular mound or additionally raised portion Hi. This supplies in effect a raised fulcrum for the fourth and fifth metatarsals i and 5 and their respective phalanges 8 for the fiexor muscles, and allows these muscles to perform their functions with a lesser amount of exertion while walking.

In supplying this raised fulcrum in the shape of a mound I4 I do not wish to support the said jointures to an extent that the flexor muscles will be entirely relaxed but determine the height of the mound is so that it supplies only a reme dial condition to the aforementioned jointures.

As the drawing is to be interpreted only as illustrative, I do not wish to be limited as to the size or shape of my corrective pad or to the material of which it is constructed.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A corrective pad for ailments of the foot muscles positioned in the sole of a shoe as an integral part thereof, said corrective pad being raised and shaped. to uplift one side of the anterior transverse arch and being provided with an additionally raised portion of less area than said pad, said additionally raised portion being positioned to form a raised fulcrum for the outside longitudinal arch of the foot. i

2. A corrective pad for ailments oi the foot muscles, said corrective pad being shaped so that when it is positioned in a shoe it will raise and uplift one side of the anterior transverse arch, and said corrective pad being provided with an additionally raised portion of semicircular shape and of less area than said pad, said additionally raised portion being positioned so that it will form a It fulcrum for the fourth and fifth metatarsal heads only.

3. A corrective pad for ailments of the foot muscles so built into a shoe sole as to be integral part thereof but which will not decrease the available space in the upper portion of said shoe, said corrective pad being raised and shaped to uplift the outer side of the anterior transverse arch and being provided with an additionally raised portion of semi-circular shape and of less area than said pad, said additionally raised portion being positioned to form a raised fulcrum for the fourth and fifth metatarsal heads only.

4. A corrective pad for ailments of the foot muscles so built into a shoe sole as to be an integral part thereof but which will not decrease the available space in the upper portion of said '1 vided also with an additionally raised portion of semi-circular shape and of less area than said pad, said additionally raisedv portion being positioned so that it will form a raised fulcrum for the fourth and fifth metatarsal heads only.

EVERETT H. VAUGHN. 

